At the Annual Conference of the Council for Sustainable Development in Berlin on September 27th BerliNordik was presented to the public as an outstanding project in the field of sustainability. The project now officially carries the quality label Workshop N-Project 2011.

To be awarded on such a high level proves to us that we are heading in the right direction with our project and it encourages us to get on with BerliNordik in the following years. We would like to thank all our partners and are looking forward to continuing the good cooperations.

The Council is the official advisory board of the German government concerning sustainable developement. It selected BerliNordik as one of the most remarkable projects in the field of sustainability.
A jury consisting of members of the RNE chose some of the best national projects and initiatives in the field of sustainability and will award them with the quality label Workshop N-Project 2011. BerliNordik, the project by Create Berlin, INPOLIS UCE GmbH and the International Design Center Berlin is one of the first projects that will be presented to the public as an outstanding example for sustainable acting during the Annual Conference of the RNE in Berlin on September 27th. Read more »

Since 2008 the Clean Tech Media Award has been turning the spotlight on the Green Stars very successfully. Each year it brings together more than 1500 guests from political, business and science fields as well as the culture and media sphere. This year the award is the the social highlight of the Clean Tech World exhibition, where environmental pioneers gather in Berlin to showcase the latest technology and to define future strategies.

BerliNordik will be part of the Clean Tech Media Award event on September 16th.
At the history-charged Tempelhof Airport a selection of 4 young product designers from Norway and Berlin will be showing their work, thus linking the field of sustainable design with clean and green technologies.

Hella Hernberg’s beautiful lamp Bol has been very much admired by visitors of both “bright green design” exhibitions this summer in Berlin. And apparently the BerliNordik exhibition has also brought her work to the attention of the Dutch interior magazine Elle who now asked the Finnish designer to show Bol at the design event Inside Design Amsterdam which will be held from September 24th to 26th at the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam. Different designers and labels will decorate the hotel rooms with their products and Bol will be part of a room designed by Dutch blogger Annouk Post under the theme “sustainable luxury”.

Each year Inside Design Amsterdam presents the best design shops in the city, adding to it a number of special presentations, exhibits, fashion shows and lectures about design as well as free sessions of interior decoration advising and festive parties. Each year, the event has new, interesting main topics as “food design” or “landscape architecture”. Inside Design organizers issue a map with shops, restaurants, galleries and museums participating in the event.

… because we will have sustainable design as a usual everyday thing.” says Kirsten Jurchen, initiator of BerliNordik.

With more than 1000 visitors altogether the BerliNordik “bright green design” exhibition at the atrium of Deutsche Bank was a big success. 19 young and talented fashion and product designers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Berlin presented their work, showing a wide range of different approaches on the topic of sustainability. Their ideas made it clear that there are many possible solutions for the design of the future. – But the journey has just begun.

If you’ve missed BerliNordik “bright green design” – the biggest exhibition in Berlin on sustainable fashion and product design during the Berlin Fashion Week – here are a few impressions.

And you can also see the faces behind the designs. Our media partner Lilli Green interviewed participating designers about their outfits and products and about their personal perspective on sustainability.

At the opening of the BerliNordik “bright green design” exhibition on July 8th at the atrium of Deutsche Bank an interantional panel hosted by Ares Kalandides (Create Berlin) discussed different aspects of sustainability in fashion and product design.

For example: How do young designers find sustainable materials? What kind of materials are there? Is the textile industry ready? Is sustainability only suitable for small brands? Is there an alternative to the usual schedule of two collections per year? Or can fashion per definition not be sustainable? And what role does the consumer play?

Members of the panel were fashion designers Magdalena Schaffrin (Berlin) and Kristofer Kongshaug (Norway), Gisle Merdal (Manager of the Norwegian Fashion Institute) and Dr. Wolf-Rüdiger Baumann (General Director of the German Textile + Fashion Confederation).

The packaging of a product does not only secure and support its contents it also promotes and enhances the product.
Designing sustainable packaging that is not only eco-fiendly but also fits the requirements of a brand is a challenge and an important task for the future.

On July 14th our project partner the International Design Center Berlin hosts an event exploring this topic.

Yesterday more than 400 guests celebrated the opening of BerliNordik’s “bright green design” at the atrium of Deutsche Bank.
For this special occasion, many of the exhibiting designers even managed to squeeze a couple of hours to be there in person, despite their tight schedules in the frame of the Fashion Week. Likewise, both representatives and experts of the fashion industry together with international guests attended the opening. During the panel discussion, which was hosted by Ares Kalandides (Create Berlin) along with designers, experts and the audience in general, questions about sustainability in fashion and product design were addressed.
Also on stage: fashion designers Magdalena Schaffrin (Berlin) and Kristofer Kongshaug (Norway), Gisle Merdal (Manager of the Norwegian Fashion Institute) and Dr. Wolf-Rüdiger Baumann (General Director of the German Textile + Fashion Confederation).More pictures and videos will be following soon!

After unpacking, sorting, pinning, hanging and zipping 27 stunning outfits and arranging 10 exquisite products by fashion and product designers from Berlin and the Nordic countries – and after having a first look at the fantastic exhibits our guests brought to the atrium of Deutsche Bank, we are now very excited to present “bright green design”.

After the successful first “bright green design” exhibition during the International design festival DMY in June at the International Design Center Berlin with focus on product design, BerliNordik is now in fashion! In an even bigger second “bright green design” exhibition BerliNordik presents eco-luxury fashion and sustainable products from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Berlin at the atrium of Deutsche Bank, Unter den Linden in Berlin-Mitte.

During Berlin Fashion Week in July 2010, the agency sieben&siebzig GbR presents their sustainable and ecological clients in an ECO SHOWROOM.
The focus is not only on fashion, but also on natural cosmetics, organic food and living. The showroom is open to all visitors who want to learn about green lifestyle with all senses - feel, smell, taste and see it. sieben&siebzig uses the summer and the crowded city to give consumers an insight into the areas of eco-fashion and eco-lifestyle.

In the showroom of our neighbours CREATE BERLIN, designers and artists will also present their eco-inspirations – among others Esther Perbandt, Frau Wagner and the photographer Steven James Scott.

The ECO BRUNCH on July 9th offers organic food and drinks as well as the opportunity to exchange information, opinions and experience. Simultaneously, the ECO BRUNCH is the vernissage of the CREATE BERLIN exhibition, which last until August 5th 2010. Read more »

On July 8th the BerliNordik “bright green design” exhibition will be opened at the atrium of Deutsche Bank.

Right next to the atrium our exhibition partner the muse_store museum shop at Deutsche Guggenheim will be presenting:

werthaltig. globalreusedsustainableecofriendlygreendesign products for a longer living

June, 26 to October, 10, 2010

Green design is more popular than ever – and everybody has a different idea of it. But at one point all strategies are coming together: a different understanding of time and value. An understanding, which is based, not on speed and expenditure, but on decelaration. Whether in re-used design, where the value of a product is rescued, even enhanced and transformed into a new definition, or the vision of a perfect cycle, where the resources revolve out of their own, gently.

werthaltig shows and organizes four major strategies for products with a longer life based on examples and concepts from Europe and Asia. A project by muse_store – to view, to touch (and to buy). Read more »

In a few days, on July 8th, BerliNordik’s fabulous “bright green design” exhibition will be opened at the atrium of Deutsche Bank, Unter den Linden. Just next to the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week the exhibition presents eco-fashion and sustainable product design from Berlin and the Nordic countries.

Here is a video that shows how it all started with “bright green fashion”. In 2009 BerliNordik already brought together young and talented fashion designers in Copenhagen on the subject of sustainable design.

Let this be your appetizer for more exciting fashion at BerliNordik 2010!

From July 7th -10th, 2010, GREENshowroom will present sustainably developed collections by selected international designers and textile suppliers in Berlin’s five-star Hotel Adlon, which is situated directly next to the Brandenburg Gate.

Combining modern design, Zeitgeist and sustainable, environmentally-conscious luxury – that is the declared goal set by Magdalena Schaffrin and Jana Keller: “In today’s world, running a visionary business means protecting the Earth and our resources and treating other people fairly – these standards also apply for fashion labels,” says Magdalena Schaffrin, GREENshowroom co-founder. Together with her partner Jana Keller, she has set out to present a selection of exclusive eco-products that include clothing, accessories, cosmetics and lifestyle items. These products are presented in the elegant ambience of Berlin’s five-star Hotel Adlon. Read more »

One of BerliNordik’s guests at the “bright green design” exhibition from July 8th – 11th will be the International Fashion School ESMOD with with a diploma project by Annika Porrey and ESMOD Accessoires made of NANAI fish leather.

The eco-friendly 15-pieces spring/summer collection by young designer Anika Porrey is sustainable in design as well as in quality. It it manufactured extraordinarily and with a lot of love for details. The designer uses exquisite certified materials such as silk, mohair and salmon leather. The collection “second nature” combines fresh modern, trend-setting fashion with ecologic ideas.

In their second year students of ESMOD were set the task to create a Tailleur outfit and four matching accessory ideas made of salmon leather by the company NANAI. The big challenge here was that because of the size of the fish the pieces of leather are quite small. After the briefing by NANAI at ESMOD the students started on their ideas from which the company chose one per student. The results have come out fantastic!

Window shopping: a display attracts your attention. You look into a face. You see a cool guy. Maybe he’s a little too serious looking? But his jacket is great. You should try it on. It is this moment that makes you decide whether you step inside or don’t.

High-quality mannequinns are made to last. Atelier Mohr turns “second hand” figures into “new” or “different” looking versions. By using pioneering techniques and excellent materials with an eye for detail they make damages and signs of wear disappear. In the process they are working environmentally friendly and always optimize their workflow. Read more »

Everyone who takes part in the discussion will get free entrance to the big opening of the BerliNordik “bright green design” exhibition on July 8th at 7 pm.

Meet the participating fashion and product designers from Berlin and the Nordic countries, make yourself heard at the panel discussion with designers and experts, take a close look at all the designs and enjoy an inspiring evening at the glamorous atrium of Deutsche Bank, Unter den Linden.

THEKEY.TO is an international event for green fashion, sustainable lifestyle and culture in Berlin.It brings together twice a year, the most innovative and contemporary brands of the international green fashion and design scene, brands at the leading edge in terms of successfully merging style and a responsible approach.
Aside from its increasing, fine selection of brands, it also hosts a growing list of side events within its intense cultural program. However, it must be said that THEKEY.TO is more than just an event, but a platform for sustainability – facilitating the exchange of inspiration, ideas, information, culture and spontaneous networking, with expert workshops and forums with international guest speakers.
THEKEY.TO aims at spreading the signal for the shift towards an era where coolness and a strong sense for quality and responsibility are naturally interlinked and maintaining this momentum. The only way is UP!

During Fashion Week THEKEY.TO ACCELERATION will host an array of lively and inspiring side events, including an amazing fashion show, a new concept area for green shopping, a conference with prominent international speakers, and of course, more legendary THEKEY.TO parties. Read more »

For five years now, the Galeries Lafayette Berlin is in cooperation with the fashion school ESMOD, a platform for young designers who are able to exhibit their collection on our LABO MODE floor.

At present Galeries Lafayette on the Friedrichstraße presents the products of 4 young designers fully manufactured in Germany, mostly in traditional craftsmanship combined with organic substances and non-toxic dyes. Read more »

For our user Veronika it is no question that products and design in the future have to be sustainable. But she also thinks that sustainable ideas only work effectively when they are affordable for a big number of people:

Finnish-Japanese designer Naoto Niidome has been working with sustainable materials for quite a while – in his fashion, but not only there.

“I´m using sustainable materials as much as I can. I used ecological material for the first time in 2003 when I designed a collection for the Finnish textile and fashion brand Marimekko. The material was 100% bamboo. After that I have used sustainable materials such as milk, eco-cotton, eco-wool etc. Costs of those materials are still high but they are excellent. I´m very happy whenever I find a sustainable solution and it is also a possibility for creative work.” Read more »

Many people have already told us what they wish and expect from products and design in the future.

For example, this ist what Emma Aulanko from the Finnland Institut in Berlin thinks:
“The most important thing with design is to make the life of people a bit easier. It doesn’t have to be product design it can also mean the design of processes or services or whatever. It doesn’t have to be a concrete thing. I would like us all to think of design in a broader way.”
(Emma Aulanko at the opening of the “bright green design” exhibition at the International Design Center Berlin)
And in the discussion on our website user Anke said: “Ich bleib bescheiden und wünsch mir einfach nur ein biologisch abbaubares Abflussfrei, das genauso gut wirkt, wie die ganzen giftigen Granulate.”So what do YOU think?

For Norwegian fashion designer Kristofer Kongshaug sustainability means trouble, it means boring basics… and that’s exactly what he is hoping to change with his label.

“I think it is important, and that we all have some kind of responsibility. But it’s not my main focus. When we use sustainable fabrics, it’s usually a choice done with respect to the fabric style and not necessary because it’s a sustainable material.” Read more »

“Working in the way I do, I make a bigger difference than as a consumer. Creating sustainable fashion shows people the normality of sustainability and the feel good factor of ecofashion.”

She claims that modern luxury is about time, quality and conscience. Today, our way of living and consuming is mostly characterised by the loss of time and cheap prizes. Satisfying these claims, the damage done to the environment and people is huge. In the textile industry a lot of toxic chemicals are used in the production of fabrics and clothes, which are dangerous for the workers and sometimes still harmful to the body of the wearer. Read more »

This is what Ignacio thinks:
“Given that the future is no longer what it used to be. I expect from future design, and particularly when it comes to its sustainable feature, to defy the symbolism and signifcance of our reality construction. I expect design to be both revolutionary and the revolution itself, innovative and the innovation itself…that is design is decoded and broken down into new communicative and interpretative pieces for objects not to be mere commodities and start become valuable and integral parts of our lives.”What do you think? Give us your statement here

Asked what sustainability means for her as a fashion designer, Friederike von Wedel-Parlow says: “struggle and pleasure. Working with nature’s limits is a great challenge. New impulses and solutions are teased out by sustainability restrictions, by skrutinizing values, rules and goals of the fashion sector.” Read more »

“As a consumer I am not pressurising myself. I know that sometimes I am a devil and that I could do better. Still I try to be aware and choose rather sustainable products. I wish that one day there will be no more price difference between sustainable and non sustainabl products.”

Fashion designer Esther Perbandt from Berlin knows: Sustainability is a big subject and the new trend at the moment. “I don’t like that at all. But the way I approached it may help others as well to do little steps. Sustainability for me doesn’t mean to change your complete lifestyle. It is about starting to think different and be aware and just try to do better. And if it is only that you decide to reduce the time of taking a shower from ten to seven minutes. Imagine how much water you save in one year. I can totally identify with the feeling of awkwardness you may have when you actually want to change something.” Read more »

For Danish designer bARBARA Í gONGINI sustainability is an important aspect in her work.

“This is my mind set within the industry – there are clear limits for what we will do to reach our goals… We will always produce in a fair trade production place, we will use all from 50 – 100 % organic fabrics in each collection, we will use bi-products within fur and leather production, we will use no chrome 6 in the dye process of leather, we will work with new aspects within the concept – such as making multifunctional clothing and de-constructing old or existing objects, cloths or fabrics. It is highly satisfying to find new ways within the industry that is not quite there yet, therefore smaller actions are as willable as bigger actions in this aspect. My aim is 100% sustainability… We want to be ban-breaking within Nordic design, demonstrating a stronger edge design with a strong political profile.” Read more »

Julia Knüpfer says: “I am aware that everything I do has a certain environmental and social impact on our ecosystem. The negative effects of the conventional production of textiles are obvious and when I started my fashion-label it was clear that I would go a different way.”

In 2009 she founded her green-fashion-label ica watermelon. It combines the concept of sustainability with high fashion. It stands for emotional long- lasting designs and lots of love to detail. The subject of nature and environment plays a central role and is conceptually translated into garments. Read more »

For Tarané Hoock as a designer sustainability means transforming design into an art form.

An important and recurring theme in Taranés work is her occupation with memory the idea to design time: Tarané seeks to conjoin the transcendental (the fashion) with the permament (the values of life). She wants to make clothes which are like friends. Read more »

During Berlin Fashion Week from July 8th to 11th 2010 BerliNordik will be presenting the second “bright green design” exhibition, which will be the largest international exhibition on Eco-Fashion and Product Design in Berlin.

At the glamorous atrium of Deutsche Bank ‘Unter den Linden’, just next to the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, Nordic fashion designers from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden as well as five Berlin fashion designers will present their vision of Eco-Fashion in the Premium segment. They all found different ways to work on Eco-Fashion: with natural eco-certified material as well as with new developed fabrics or innovative cuts and minimal seaming to save material…

All the designers and their approaches towards Eco-Fashion will be introduced here soon. First up is MAXJENNY: Read more »

At the opening of the first BerliNordik “bright green design” exhibition at the International Design Center Berlin our media partner Lilli Green collected some impressions and also interviewed participating designers from Finland, Norway and Berlin about their work.

Different aspects of today’s and tomorrow’s eco-design were debated at the opening of the BerliNordik “bright green design” exhibition at the International Design Center Berlin. In an open panel discussion Ares Kalandides (Create Berlin), Cornelia Horsch (IDZ), jury members Axel Kufus, Jerszy Seymour and international designers Hella Hernberg and Adrian Paulsen – together with the audience – explored various perspectives of sustainability in design. Read more »

From June 10th – 13th 2010 the SUSTAINABLE DESIGN CENTER will, as one of the DMY Satellite Exhibitions show a commented selection of products that give an insight into the work of the Center. This is also an opportunity to take a first look at their new showroom at 67 Hobrecht Str. in Neukölln.

A Finnish group of designers from Turku is bringing together their talent for the Turku Design ILMIÖ (phenomena) exhibition in Berlin. This Satellite Exhibition of the International Design Festival Berlin DMY shall exhibit world famous design ceramics, fresh interior textiles, colorful magnetic billboards, children’s clothing, interior decoration pieces and accessories. All the products are designed and made in Finland. The city of Turku where these design companies are situated has been chosen to be the European capital of culture in the year 2011. Read more »

BerliNordik presents biggest eco-design exhibition series in Berlin.
Opening of the first “bright green design” exhibition on June 8th 2010 at the International Design Center Berlin IDZ. The exhibition will showcase sustainable product design from Berlin and the Nordic countries.

Discuss with the jury members and the designers. Tell us what you think: What does sutsainability mean to you? What should the design concepts of tomorrow look like? Which criteria are important…? Read more »

With her schubLaden furniture Franziska Wodicka does not only give old drawers a new life, the Berlin-based designer also lets her customers participate in the design process and thus creates new “Lieblingsstücke”. Read more »

The design duo schmidttakahashi from Berlin (Eugenie Schmidt and Mariko Takahashi) found a great fascination on used garments, which are affected by individual owner. They are no longer anonymous objects as soon as they end up to the hands of particular person. Even if the clothes are mass produced for an unknown number of consumers. So schmidttakahashi developed an ambitious project: Read more »

Currently, only very few designers still use wood as a construction material. New materials provide new opportunities, but do we really know wood already? Is it not possible that there is even more in it than those wonderful shapes Charles and Ray Eames created out of deformed plywood? Read more »

Hella Hernberg is a Helsinki-based architect and designer whose work ranges from objects to urban projects. Her design ideology follows the guiding principle of turning unused and discarded things valuable and necessary, whether they are household objects or urban spaces. By combining the old and contemporary, the familiar and unexpected, she brings more character and stories to common concepts. Read more »

During the International Design Festival Berlin DMY from June 9th – 13th 2010 not only Tempelhof Airport but the whole city will be buzzing with new design ideas – many of them bright green.
As one of more than 40 Extended Locations schœner.wærs.wenns.schœner.wær – Conceptstore for sustainable Design presents two interesting events at their store: Read more »